It is quite often necessary for oxygen (O2) to be administered to a patient while he is being conveyed on an ambulance stretcher, during the time that he is being carried on the stretcher to the ambulance, while the ambulance is traveling to the hospital or other medical facility, and while the patient is being removed from the ambulance at the hospital or other emergency facility. To our knowledge, both in the past and at present, it is generally the practice to either place the oxygen cylinder on the stretcher with the patient, or to mount the cylinder on the side of the stretcher using a metal bracket type of device. A third option that is used is to have an additional person carry the cylinder, while the patient is being moved on the stretcher.
Particularly during the time while the stretcher is being removed from, or is entering into, a building, none of these methods is satisfactory. For instance, an extra person may not always be available to assist in holding the cylinder. Even when available, this makes for a difficult procedure, since residential doorways, hallways, stairways, or the placement of furniture in the residence usually is not designed for the simultaneous passage of a stretcher and another person.
The same problems cited above are usually encountered using stretchers that have a side-mounted carrying device. Doorways, stairwells, and hallways are not usually wide enough to accommodate the stretcher with the side carrier attached, and as a result, walls, furniture, of valuable oxygen equipment can and sometimes is damaged. Besides, the additional weight concentrated on one side of the stretcher throws the stretcher off balance when it is lifted, causing an additional burden to the stretcher bearers and a possible unsafe situation for the patient.
It is also not very satisfactory to place the oxygen cylinder on the stretcher with the patient. Despite all of its advantages, an oxygen cylinder is not a desirable bedfellow for an emergency patient. Also, when the cylinder is placed on the stretcher with the patient, the stretcher bearers are often forced to do a juggling act to keep the patient or the oxygen cylinder from falling off the stretcher when it is being lifted. Even if the cylinder does remain on the stretcher, it may protrude from it, striking door-jambs, furniture, and the like, again causing unnecessary damage.
It has been previously proposed to provide special cylinder carriers for such stretchers, two examples being U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,427,668 and 3,761,968, which disclose cylinder carriers mounted over the feet of the patient and beneath the head end of the stretcher, respectively. To our knowledge, however, neither of these proposals have been adopted to any substantial extent, if at all.